From: Friends of the Rawlingses
Today, we mourn a great soldier, a traditional leader, and a key figure in the life story of our hero, Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings.
The passing of Tolon Naa, Major (Rtd) Abubakari Sulemana, has closed a powerful chapter in Ghana’s military and political history. He was not just a chief. He was the man destiny placed directly opposite Rawlings on the morning of May 15, 1979.
We, the Friends of Rawlings, pay this tribute with honesty, respect and reconciliation.
- THE MAN WHO ARRESTED RAWLINGS AND SAVED HIS LIFE_
On May 15, 1979, when our young, idealistic Air Force pilot attempted to overthrow the SMC II regime of General Akuffo because of the corruption and rot in the country, it was Major Sulemana, then Commanding Officer of the Recce Regiment, who foiled the attempt.
He went through a hail of bullets at the Air Force Base, seized Rawlings’ weapon and arrested him personally. He did not kill him on the spot as many would have done. He put him in his own command car, drove him to his office at Burma Camp and protected him.
He told Rawlings: “Rawlings, guns cannot solve Ghana’s problem.”
Rawlings asked for whiskey, and Major Sulemana went to his own house to bring him a bottle. He then handed him over alive to Major General Odartey-Wellington. That act of professionalism is why Rawlings lived to lead the June 4th Revolution.
- HE DENIED TORTURING OUR HERO
For 40 years, the story was told that Rawlings was tortured and his nails removed after the May 15th arrest. Major Sulemana stood firm and clarified history:
“I gave Rawlings whiskey, never tortured him. I wish Rawlings could come back and tell you. They are all lies. I never hurt him. If they tortured him at the MI area, I don’t know. But from the airport base to my office, nothing happened to him.”
He insisted Rawlings was his friend. They rode horses together at Burma Camp. They sat in his house and discussed Ghana. “Very gentle. Not a devil,” he said of Rawlings.
That truth matters to us.
- THE COST HE PAID AFTER JUNE 4.
After June 4, 1979 and December 31, 1981, Major Sulemana paid a heavy price for doing his duty as a soldier. He was forced into exile in 1982 by the PNDC government and lived away from Dagbon and Tolon for 18 years until his return in 2000.
Yet he never harbored bitterness. In his last interviews, he prayed for Rawlings after his death in 2020, asking God to forgive him for all his mistakes, and he warned that evil men around Rawlings had used him for dirty work.
- FROM SOLDIER TO CHIEF
Born in 1943 at Tali, near Tolon, first son of Tolon Naa Alhassan Sulemana, commissioned in 1963 as one of Nkrumah’s own escort officers, to becoming Commanding Officer of the Armoured Recce Regiment, to becoming a member of President Kufuor’s National Security Advisory Corps in 2001, to finally being enskinned as Tolon Naa in 2019 by Yaa Naa Abukari Mahama II, his life was service.
He was a bridge between two eras – the old professional Ghana Army and the revolutionary era of Rawlings.
Today, the soldier who arrested Rawlings and the pilot he arrested have both gone to meet their Maker. History has reconciled them.
We, Friends of Rawlings, extend our deepest condolences to the Tolon Traditional Area, his family and the Ghana Armed Forces.
May his soul rest in peace. May the gallant Tolon Naa and our Founder, JJ, find peace together.
Damirifa Due! Rest Well, Naa Major.
